I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll say it again. I’m quite new to hip-hop and music in general. I’ve only been into hip-hop for around a couple months now, and I’ve been trying so hard to diversify myself into the hip-hop genre and try learning as much as I can about hip-hop as quick as I can, I really have a hard time getting the opportunity to listen to new music that comes out. I recently got a Tidal account, and that’s helped me a ton to get myself up-to-date on as much well-hyped new music as I can. The account gave me the opportunity to listen to albums like More Life, Issa, Lust for Life, Ctrl, etc, which I usually would have to wait a while before getting a chance to listen to these very new albums. So, now that I’ve cleared that up, you should probably understand why there is so much new, and lots of hyped and overhyped stuff on my grid. I’ll take a moment to go through a few of these new albums I’ve listened to, as well as generate some discussion on some older, but classic albums many of you have probably noticed in my chart as well.
Raskit- My introduction to grime music. Tbh, I've really been wanting to listen to this album for a little while now, even though I had no idea how it'd be. I LOVED what I got from this album, the flow just matches my style, and really love the way Dizzee raps, and that grime voice is pretty cool tbh. A little generic but still a pleasant surprise and turn-out of an album I had no idea what it would be like. 8/10
Grateful- Didn't know what to expect from this album together, but the way DJ Khaled brought these artists together really appealed to me, I found all the tracks quite catchy, the mood was always changing, yet there was that solid flow that you'd expect from a good album. Some songs were too poppy, that didn't appeal to my specific taste, and other times I feel it just detracts a bit from what a real hip-hop album is. However, I LOVED how DJ Khaled pulled together legends and mixed old-school rap with more modern hip-hop, really thought the concept of the album overall was cool, lot of tracks I liked, some I didn't. 7/10
Jungle Rules- My introduction to French Montana, enjoyed the album overall quite well, however, the album just sorta got tiring at the very end, and is an album that's quite enjoyable on your first listen, but then quickly grows out of you, and you don't feel like going back to it, that's how I felt at least anyways. 6/10
More Life - I always had a very judgemental perception on drake, this was my first introduction to a full album of his, and I decided to give it a go, even though my previous experience with drake songs didn't stick to me quite well. I'll give it to drake that's he's deceived a lot, and still has rapping skills in him, and I did like some tracks of off more life, many much more than I expected to. However, it still isn't my style. Drake's appeal is understandable, but I can't fw his music as much as some others could, there were still some real solid tracks on the album, I liked the flow and production, and the project was put together quite well tbh. 6/10
Pretty Girls Like Trap Music - Listened to this album only once before (same with DAMN), but I didn't get as good of a listen to it as I should have, as I was on a time limit to check the album out (borrowed from a friend). I can say that I enjoyed the album quite a bit, I like 2chainz voice and the style he uses it in, production was great, features were strong, the album tbh, while isn't something I, and don't think many others, would repeat too often, is still an album, that when you listen to it, it never bores you, it always keeps you into the music, one of the better albums of 2017 I've heard. 7.5/10
Lust For Life - Listening to this made me realize that I tbh can't fw anything non-hiphop. I'd say production was solid, and while I'm not a fan of the vocals, I'd still say Lana's got a really good voice, liked the asap rocky feature songs, and not much more to say about it. Can't really judge it since it's not my type of music.
Ctrl- Introduction to SZA, really solid r&b singer, and I don't listen to too many female artists, so giving a full project by a female was quite refreshing in a way. Production, flow were good, really loved the features, but it had the potential to keep me more interested than it really did. 6.5/10
Issa - First listen to this well publicized album, and it exceeded my expectations tbh. I enjoyed the flow, production was amazing, really liked how 21 savage utilized the amazing production, some songs were too generic for my taste, other songs really caught my attention 7/10
Imperious Rex - Introduction to Sean Price, and it was an amazing album! Loved the flow, production, style of rap is exactly up my alley, collab with MF doom was outta this world, just such an amazing, nostalgic, but great album with a style of rap that's close to my heart. RIP Sean Price 8.5/10
The Golden Age 2 - I've checked out some of Dizzy's discogrophy before, and I've liked what he's put out. This didn't exceed my expectations, but it wasn't a trash album. It was really solid, Dizzy always has great rapping ability, mixes his skills with the production in quite well, and overall a well-organized album that coulda been a bit more unique 7/10.
12 - I've listened to Asap artists before, and have liked what many artists, like rocky and ferg have put out, this was my first listen to a project by twelvyy, and I enjoyed it quite a bit, features were amazing, but the album was a bit stale, and grew tiring much quicker than it should have, especially with such amazing features like rocky, badass, and Flatbush zombies. 6.5/10
Manna - Of course, with any EP, you wouldn't expect an artist to put his full potential, so I didn't expect much from an EP, however I've listened to Fashawn before, and love a lot of the music he puts out, and I very much enjoyed all the tracks and combination of them together in Manna, a message-themed EP, with strong emotions involved, good connection to the audience, strong flow, and great production especially for a not-so-big artist like Fashawn. Mother Amerikkka was easily the standout track of the full project, but every track had something good to offer, didn't exceed my expectations by much, but was pleasantly enjoyed by listening to the project. 6.5/10
Who Told You to Think??!!?!?!?! - Really strong album, my introduction to milo, and enjoyed the album, production, style and flow was all good, but wasn't as good as some other people on this sub think of it to be. It's super strong of a project, but not something I'd tbh go back to much, but I still loved the flow and creation of the album as a whole, and think milo is quite a strong artist. 7/10
Braniac - Had no idea what to expect, but this was quite a solid project, and enjoyed how easy of a listen it was (especially since we're tight on internet use, lol), really like how the project was produced as a whole, as the tracks mixed together real well, even though imo there wasn't any standout track, non of them were bad, they were are real good, but both equally and not in a way where I'd go, "this track from the project is real sick", reaction. 6/10
Father Figga - Didn't think too much of this album, found the connection from track-to-track a little weird to be honest. It was a strong album, but pretty stale, and generic tbh. Flow wasn't on par with me as it shoulda or coulda been, though I liked production. 5.5/10
Saturation - Seen way to many recommendations of this album and Brockhampton in general, so I thought, heck, I'd give them a try. Good choice, really great band, lots of potential and Saturation is just such a well-executed project where, the tracks single-by-single are just as great as the project as a whole. A little overhyped on this sub tbh, but still an amazing, talented band overall, and will definitely give all-American trash a listen some time soon. 8/10
B4.DA.$$ - Don't worry, Ik this isn't a new project, just wanted to judge this completely solely because being a Joey stan, I had to express the insane enjoyment I found outta this album. It's just such a strong project, the hard work that went into this project is so noticeable. Joey's flow, boom-bap style, rapping, and voice is like exactly the type of shit I'm looking for, and B4.DA.$$ was an album executed to fit my needs. The album is just so amazing, production, flow, lyrics, everything was there. The album also gives off such a nostalgic vibe and tbh feels like the most genuine Joey Badass project out there. My 2nd listen to it, and it never grows old on me, love this album! 9/10
You Will Regret by Ski Mask is one of the newer projects I also listened to, I had 26 albums listened to this week, and that project was left off of the grid of 25, so that's why it's not there. It was my introduction to Ski Mask, and tbh, I find the flow too generic. Beats feel quite unoriginal, flow is just not unique, my type of up my alley in any way, but I tbh enjoyed the collab with xxx quite a bit, but not much from this project really got to me, quite a disappointment actually tbh,really was hoping ski-mask could please me, he seems like a great guy. 5/10.
I've also listened to MF DOOM shit as well, madvillainy is a masterpiece and mm...food is not a project to be ignored and MF DOOM's lyrical abilities sends chills down my spine, Madvillainy a 9.5/10, and mm...food 9/10.
I've been on a bit of a wu-tang kick, haven't listened to too much wu-tang though, only listened to ironman, supreme clientele, only built for Cuban linx, and 36 chambers before. So I just got introduced to liquid swords and only built 4 Cuban linx 2.Too tired to do a deeper write-up on the albums, but I'll just say liquid swords was a perfect 10/10 and only built for Cuban linx 2 was a 9/10. Wu-tang members are all just undisputable legends.